NYC Recomendations

Hey,

I think a couple breweries worth visiting are Other Half (they have a new location in the Rock, so you can actually probably just stop in from your hotel), Evil Twin, Threes (has a cool birria taco popup for food at Greenpoint), Wild East, and Finback. Threes Greenpoint is close to some cool spots, like Paulie Gee's pizza, Brouwerij Lane (a great beer bar with cool stuff to go and a couple European beers on draught usually), and then it's a short trip to Williamsburg. Williamsburg has Other Half Domino Park, which you may not need to go to since you're in the Rock, but it's next to a bunch of cool places. Randolph Beer, Federoff's roast pork (get the cheesesteak), Four Horsemen (michelin starred restaurant with an awesome menu), Talea brewery, L'Industrie Pizza, Radegast Beer Hall, and Beer Karma (decent little beer shop with draughts as well).

My favorite bars are Proletariat, Beer Street/Beer Street South, BierWax, Harlem Hops, Carmine St Beers, Grand Delancey, Beer Witch. I try to avoid As Is, too many bad experience myself and many people I know.

Food, I'd try to hit Win Son bakery, Joe's pizza, Anthony & sons pannini shop, Defonte's, Milano Market. We also have some of the best ramen in the world, Nakamura and Mr Taka come to mind, Ivan Ramen, but up by you also Hide Chan is very good, and Nishida Sho-Ten is an experience and a half. If you like spicy Thai, down from Other Half Red Hook is Ugly Baby - probably the best Thai food in North America.

Have fun!

 

I don’t know the city the way I used to because it’s been a few years since I’ve worked there but now that The Ginger Man is closed that area is kind of a dead zone for beer. OH has a pop-up for cans in Rock Center from time-to-time (check their IG page) and Bread and Honey isn’t too far which is a high-end beer store/deli which is kinda pricy but has great selection.

I don’t know how much time you’re playing with but a trip to the west side of lower Manhattan may be your best option for a restaurant.

My favorite is Haymaker just below Penn Station off 8th Ave. Short uber or cab ride. You want to navigate the subways (which is probably your best bet) go into Chelsea and you’ve got Cooper’s or As Is. Milk & Hops used to be one of my favorite shops plus they have sandwiches and stuff like that.

Plus, a little lower in the Village, you’ve got Carmine’s which is a great bottle store and The Blind Tiger which is small but has excellent selection. There are lots of little eating spots around there. I used to love Saigon Shack, their pho is the fucking best. John’s pizzeria is literally across the street from BT and, the cheapest of cheap, Mahmoun’s on MacDougal, best fafafel you’re gonna find. Oh, Minetta Tavern right there if you want an old school type restaurant. Supposed to be one of the best burgers in town.

 

Good rundown overall, but just to nitpick, As Is is 100% Hell's Kitchen rather than Chelsea.

 

Leeds and Chuck already gave you a ton of info, so I'll just +1 to Grand Delancey. Their draft list is insane. If you're staying near Rockefeller, it's a 15 min ride on the F to get there. They're located in a food hall, so you have plenty of food options. Draft list here if you want an idea of what they generally have available.

To piggyback on the ramen suggestions, I work in Midtown East and love Hide-Chan's ramen a lot. Highly highly recommend if you want a good tonkotsu ramen. Ippudo has a spot on 5th Ave and they come in close for tonkotsu. Hide-Chan is right above another ramen spot called Totto ramen. They specialize in paitan ramen. They're great too, but I just prefer tonkotsu. Nishida sho-ten is my backup for when the wait at Hide-Chan is too long. All these spots are great.

 

Yeah duh, don’t know what I was thinking. If he goes to As is, then he should probably know about Clinton Gourmet, which to me is the best shop in the city. Beer Culture on 45th was one of my favorite places too but I don’t remember them having food. Just, really good people there.

 

Spuyten is awesome - I believe, and I may be wrong, they are temporarily closed atm. Basically they've been closed since the pandemic started, only opening for a small event on Zwanze day. You could probably email or message them on IG to find out if they're around. It's also across from Commodore, who make great margs and some of the best fried chicken sandwiches in the city.

 

All of these are facts.

 

The new Strong Rope in Red Hook is worth a stop if you head to Brooklyn. Just over a mile from Centre Street Other Half.
Strong Rope beer is ok, but facility and view make it a nice stop. Especially around sunset.

Bierwax, Gold Star Beer Counter, Beer Street South and Covenhoven are all great beer bars within walking distance of each other and close to Prospect Park.

The Three’s on Governors Island is a nice activity. Lots of food options out there. Excellent views of city, Statue of Liberty and lots of history to see.

Three’s, Finback BK, Gowanus Strong Rope and Wild East are all within minutes of each other and a pretty easy subway ride from Manhattan.

I also don’t see any mention above of Törst which is another good beer/food combo if you go towards Williamsburg/ Greenpoint

 

I tried to keep it within the borough of Manhattan, but this is a solid post if you got the time to go to BK.

 

Yeah, figured I’d throw some additional BK info out because others mentioned some of the area.

I’ll definitely use your post if I decide to make the dreaded trek across a bridge.

 

The Jeffrey up on E 60th right by the Queensboro Bridge is an easy visit (walk or NQR subway) from the Rock area and usually has an excellent tap list.

 

These places have been mentioned already but in Manhattan my favorite stops are As Is (Midtown/Hell's Kitchen) and The Grand Delancey (Lower East Side). Plenty of great food options at the market that The Grand Delancey is located in, but you're also steps away from Katz's Deli, Ivan Ramen, Cafe Katja, and a million other excellent restaurants.

As for Brooklyn, I love Gold Star Beer Counter, Mekelburg's and Covenhoven. Grimm has a cool taproom as well.

I was in Williamsburg this past Friday night and tried to go to Spuyten but unfortunately they were closed. Not sure what the deal is with their hours at the moment.

 

Definitely one of the better food/beer combos in the city. As many great beer bars and breweries are there are here, most don't have a full food menu.

 

I love The Jeffrey but it is small. The Blind Tiger is a cathedral is comparison. Always a great beer list though for sure.

 

Welcome to NYC. Open til 4am.

 

To be clear, I love the Blind Tiger but it was already mentioned and the Jeffrey is much closer to where OP is staying. Blind Tiger is one of those places that could go downhill fast and it would always have a place in my heart when great beer wasn't available on every corner (exaggeration, of course, but point stands).

@Jbrews - The Jeffrey would be a pretty good spot if you are getting in that late and don't want to trek all that far.

 

Tagging @snaotheus in case he gains anything from this thread, and in case he has anything he wants to add.